Conventional PCs clearly provide significant benefits to their users. For example, PCs can run an open-ended set of applications, provide access to the Internet, and support email and other information sharing arrangements. Also, PCs typically have a crisp interactive responsiveness. In spite of these benefits, however, the current state of PC technology leaves much room for improvement. For example, significant drawbacks exist in the areas of security, hardware, access, administration, and energy.
With regard to security, PCs and the operating systems that typically run on them are often insecure. They get infected with viruses, worms, and spyware. Criminals may break into them to steal personal information and CPU cycles. In the worst case, the entire physical PC itself can be stolen.
PC hardware also presents several difficulties. First, hardware can have a high failure rate. When a part fails, it is typically thrown away and manually replaced. If the broken part is a disk drive, then important data may be lost. Current techniques for PC backup on remote storage servers are slow, unreliable, and complicated to administer—hence many users rarely, if ever, back up their data.
Second, even when hardware does not break, it often needs to be replaced. By way of example, new applications and new versions of the operating system might require more memory, more disk space, or faster processors; a new game might require a new video card, which in turn might require a new power supply or motherboard; a higher-definition video standard might require a new optical drive and display. To accommodate the ever increasing demands that software places on hardware, many users are reduced to replacing their entire PC every few years.
Third, when hardware does break or needs to be replaced, the act of replacing can be anywhere from inconvenient to impossible. Many users are simply not skilled enough to open a PC and replace components—if they can even figure out what needs replacing in the first place. Even an experienced user will concede defeat and simply buy a new PC if the item that needs replacing is the motherboard.
With regard to remote access, current remote-access solutions perform poorly—if at all—when the remote machine is displaying motion video, or when isochronous peripherals, such as USB microphones, are remotely connected. In general, a remotely accessed machine often does not behave like a local machine. This difference between the local and remote experience frustrates attempts to travel and telecommute. Further, current remote-access solutions usually do not work at all if the remote PC is broken.
In terms of administration, PCs are nontrivial to administer, even for an expert. Most users do not have the skill required to administer a PC correctly, and most probably do not even try.
Finally, with regard to energy, PCs consume a lot of power. Most PCs are left turned on when not in use, and a very large number of PCs are underutilized even when they are being used. Having vast numbers of users each equipped with an underutilized, never-turned-off PC is extremely wasteful of energy. And having those PCs regularly end up in landfills is destructive of the environment.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved PC technology.